The vicuña (Vicugna vicugna) or vicugna (both /vɪˈkuːnjə/) is one of two wild South American camelids which live in the high alpine areas of the Andes, the other being the guanaco. It is a relative of the llama, and is now believed to be the wild ancestor of domesticated alpacas, which are raised for their coats. Vicuñas produce small amounts of extremely fine wool, which is very expensive because the animal can only be shorn every three years, and has to be caught from the wild. When knitted together, the product of the vicuña's wool is very soft and warm. The Inca valued vicuñas highly for their wool, and it was against the law for anyone but royalty to wear vicuña garments.
Both under the rule of the Inca and today, vicuñas have been protected by law, but they were heavily hunted in the intervening period. At the time they were declared endangered in 1974, only about 6,000 animals were left. Today, the vicuña population has recovered to about 350,000, and although conservation organizations have reduced its level of threat classification, they still call for active conservation programs to protect populations from poaching, habitat loss, and other threats.
Vicuña is a village in Álava, Basque Country, Spain.
Coordinates: 42°51′N 2°20′W / 42.850°N 2.333°W
The vicuña is a camelid native to South America.
Vicuña may also refer to:
Brace the line between the loswest calories
Parkay or butter which would you rather have slide
Down your tube into the bloated gloop of food
Where all synthetics secrete as a bubbling crude
The time has come to toss the ol' churner
And meet new deamnds for processed butter
Pleasing the public seems to the be only way
So lay the res carpet and make way for parkay
Imitation butter lies behind a glass door
Dietary predicament that has stood the test of time
Sniffer dinky dinkle fondue cheese
Parkay, the savior, will reside on your pancakes